


Weird Science

by HannaM



Category: Hatoful Kareshi | Hatoful Boyfriend
Genre: Dark Character, F/M, For Science!, POV First Person, Worldbuilding (sort of)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-24
Updated: 2014-12-24
Packaged: 2018-03-03 05:45:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2840192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HannaM/pseuds/HannaM
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How Hiyoko learned to stop worrying and love the partridge.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Weird Science

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tuesday](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tuesday/gifts).



I try not to think about it, but the truth is it's not always easy being a human girl in a bird's world.  
  
I don't mean to complain. In a lot of ways I have many advantages. My diet, for one thing, is much more versatile than the average bird's, and I can carry a lot more on my back. I became every teacher's favorite assistant at St Pigeonation's pretty quickly since it's so easy for me to move heavy objects with my opposable thumbs. And I've made some good friends over the years that I know will always be there for me.  
  
It's just that their always is a lot shorter than mine.  
  
Everybirdie I know is going to die before me, probably. Unless I start doing dangerous things like my parents, or some freak accident happens, or there are scientific advancements within my lifetime that change everything.  
  
Really, so much in the world is unknown that there's no point in getting all morbid and depressed while I'm still in the peak of my youthful school days.  
  
But when I found out it was possible to work in the infirmary with Doctor Iwamine, I admit I leapt at the chance, much as I imagine my ancestors might have pounced on a fat juicy hare. There were some rumors around the school that his morals and ethics are a bit nontraditional, but if anything that made me more excited. Somebirdie willing to take chances and experiment with our ideas of the limits of birds and humans… that was what I needed.  
  
Unfortunately, Yuuya was working in the infirmary as well. He's not a bad bird, though I feel like he thinks he's more suave than he actually is. It's just that, with him around, I saw less of the doctor than I thought I was going to.  
  
And I wasn't going to ask him what he was working on in front of Yuuya. Not that I really had the chance to, since he was always brushing us both off, but I couldn't afford to waste valuable time asking questions the doctor wouldn't answer. I had to make him like me, trust me, show him how intelligent I was.  
  
Birds and humans are different in so many ways, but our minds aren't that unlike each other anymore.  
  
When we went on our class picnic, I hoped that the doctor would come. I even considered faking an injury so he'd have an excuse, but then I realized I'd probably just get sent home early. As it was, I ended up talking to Mister Nanaki, figuring it was safer than encouraging Yuuya or getting weird looks from everybirdie by talking to Okosan. And Ryouta was busy arguing with Sakuya, so I brought my lunch over to Mister Nanaki, and, after he fell asleep almost immediately, gave up and took a nap on the grass.  
  
The sports festival seemed more promising. The doctor just had to be on hand in case anybirdie was injured, right? I could show him how useful I could be.  
  
But no, it was Yuuya and I again, doing the work while the doctor took notes on the performance of the birds in each event. I wondered what he was taking notes on. I paid attention as best I could, just in case I noticed something that he was looking for.  
  
To my frustration, I didn't see anything particularly noteworthy. Maybe if I had joined the track team, I would have understood more about athletics, though somehow I doubted that the doctor was scouting for the Pigeolympics. Maybe if I had a science elective, I'd understand what was so interesting about them.  
  
That had to be why he was taking notes-- there were potentially exceptional birds among us, and Doctor Iwamine was looking for the next step in evolution. Maybe it was just wishful thinking on my part, but he did talk about 'experiments' and 'studies' a lot.  
  
On a break, I found myself wandering over to the infirmary. It wasn't as though I really expected the doctor to be there alone, but if I could get a good look around, maybe I'd figure out how far along he was. Heck, maybe I could talk Yuuya into doing it for me. For all the talk of him being a ladies' dove, he didn't seem to have a girlfriend. I didn't really want to lead him on, but if it would get me what I needed…  
  
"Tosaka. Why are you here?"  
  
I froze. I had forgotten how… intimidating Doctor Iwamine could be. What could I say? I was skipping class? I wanted to hear the beautiful sound of his voice?  
  
"I wanted to hear your voice."  
  
I've really been spending too much time with Yuuya.  
  
Still, the answer seemed to please him. At least, I think being called strange was a compliment, coming from the doctor. He said he'd like to experiment on me, which gave me hope that he might share some of his research with me. I'd happily participate in any sort of experiment if it led to a brighter future for birds and humans alike!  
  
But then he told me to get out, so maybe he was just trying to scare me into leaving him alone. So much for my dream of ruling the world from the shadows!  
  
My dreams have been a little different lately, though. Grander, more frightening. Maybe I am as strange as the doctor thinks I am.  
  
I thought about changing my usual Tanabata wish, which I hadn't done since Ryouta was a hatchling. But I wasn't really sure what else to wish for-- sure, I could wish to conquer the world by force, but considering my current athletic abilities, that would just be unrealistic. And wishing to become a famous artist just seemed like giving up.  
  
For a wild moment, I considered scribbling down 'The love of a mad angel' but it was too embarrassing, so I just wished to rule the world from the shadows again.  
  
What I should have wished for was a science elective, but it probably wouldn't have made any difference in the long run. I had some books, but I didn't even know where to start if I wanted to be Doctor Iwamine's assistant. I knew my basic bird biology of course (it had been on the placement exam for St Pigeonation's) but it was harder to find relevant books on my own internal structure.  
  
Of course I understood why educated birds didn't want books on humans freely available. My species had not always been good to birds while we ran the world, and keeping around too many reminders of their civilizations might make chicks sympathetic towards the plight of their former oppressors.  
  
But it made me angry sometimes. I didn't always know whether I was sick or healthy, because there were things my body did that were completely foreign to birds. Last year I actually thought I was dying of some rare humiliating hunter-gatherer disease, only for Ryouta's mother to explain to me that bleeding like that was normal for a human female of a certain age.  
  
I still don't understand what the evolutionary advantage is of bleeding all over your cave at irregular intervals, but I've accepted that it's just another way that I'm different from my classmates. And who knows, maybe it'll be useful at some point.  
  
Yuuya's been acting strange lately. He's been so busy hiding whatever he's really doing that he's hardly been flirting at all. I figured it was really none of my business, but that was before I got to the infirmary and walked straight into the middle of a confrontation between the doctor and Yuuya.  
  
I thought it was pretty funny that Yuuya had gotten caught touching things in the doctor's desk when he'd been the one who told me not to mess with it on the first day. I guess he just wanted the drugs all to himself.  
  
He tried to use me as an alibi, but I wasn't about to lie for somebirdie who had been stealing potentially important secrets without me. Especially if telling the truth won me points with Doctor Iwamine.  
  
I got kicked out again, but I'm pretty sure by the set of the doctor's beak that he's starting to become fond of me. And now that Yuuya's pinned his own wings, metaphorically speaking, I'm almost certainly the more trustworthy assistant.  
  
I told Ryouta, because I was too excited to keep it to myself. He didn't take it too well, though. He sees the doctor regularly because he gets sick so easily, but it always gives him an uneasy feeling. Ryouta reminded me about the rumors and the disappearing students, and I told him that I would be fine because I didn't have anything you could make a quill pen out of.  
  
I probably should have kept that joke to myself.

Oh well. It wasn't as though I really had the time to visit the doctor with finals on the horizon. Yuuya seemed to be making time, though. I didn't see him at any of the study sessions. He didn't even show up for the finals we had in common. I thought he was a more studious dove than that, or at least that he took school a little bit more seriously.

Not that I really blamed him for giving exams a miss. I'd been working so hard to be at the doctor's level that everything on my finals seemed much easier than it really should have been. I probably could have managed to skip a few sessions and look in the doctor's desk while he was dealing with Yuuya.

When I finally made it to the infirmary, to my surprise there was no sign of Yuuya. Not that I minded, because it meant Doctor Iwamine had to pay attention to me. I immediately offered to help over the summer break, to prove how useful I could be. He said there wasn't a "real need" but also happened to mention that he would be here, which I think means he wants me to come anyway.

I was so eager to have a real conversation with him that I ended up talking about the school rumors. That probably wasn't a good idea, but I wanted him to know that I didn't care if they were true. All right, I did care, because I wanted them to be true.

I didn't actually mean that I wanted to disappear like he said, but I wanted him to be a real bird of action, the kind that went to any lengths to cross the gap between my species and his.

I think I was wrong about Yuuya. No one remembers seeing him around lately, and the doctor hasn't said anything about Yuuya helping him. I'm the only one at his side now.

I'm glad.


End file.
